Comments on Hit Self-Destruct: Never Break The Chain

That was definitely a missed oppurtunity there, al...

2008-12-13T00:15:00.000+13:00

That was definitely a missed oppurtunity there, although I haven't got the foggiest idea of any worthwhile alternatives to implement at that point. After being apparently cured from Fontaine's mind control, I'm still running along the same corridors following orders, but this time I'm apparently doing it on my own free will.

Although the scene in question itself is well done, I remember being encumbered by serious Rapture Fatigue at that point, even though the architectural high point - Fort Frolic - was just a few levels ago. More than the missed meta-point to be made, I was disappointed by the shallow gameplay that was way too close for comfort to the original Doom. Main quests consisted of fighting your way into a far-away place to get a keycard or flip a switch but - as we're living the 21st century - those flip-the-switch moments might just be accompanied by clever cutscenes where a florist gets gassed to death before giving us the thing we need. Too much of the game was: go to a place, find a object with a yellow halo signifying INTERACTIVITY, click mouse button (or maybe it was E). You now have a BOMB. You may now go to the CORE, which curiously enough gains a yellow halo signifying INTERACTIVITY. Click mouse button to place BOMB to CORE. A cutscene and taunting-by-radio ensues.

But man it looked good. As an aestheric statement, there was no stopping Bioshock that year. And you could shoot BEES! The splicers' reactions to the BEES were hilarious: "Oh no, not the BEES!" just like they had been mercilessly stung numerous times before and knew what was coming. Too bad it was such a EVE-drain.

What you are missing here is that Bioshock has per...

2008-12-12T14:32:00.000+13:00

What you are missing here is that Bioshock has perfect gameplay. All the way to the last boss.

Remember that? Actual fun, rewarding gameplay?

All the perfect stories in the world won't save you from a let-down, unfair and boring gameplay.

So what the story didn't end in the bang it deserved? That's for Bioshock 2 to take on...

Hold on to your hats, gentlemen, as my first name ...

2008-12-11T23:28:00.000+13:00

Hold on to your hats, gentlemen, as my first name is Alex and my last name begins with a P too!

So we could still be dealing with a bizarre time-traveling disaster after all (and inadvertently with the required creepy lovemaking with future-self..)! ;)

Shit happens.

2008-12-11T20:47:00.000+13:00

Shit happens.

Duncan,
I want you to know, you just scared ...

2008-12-11T20:21:00.000+13:00
Duncan,
I want you to know, you just scared the living shit out of me.

I started reading this post, got my usual chuckle out of your opening, and positively freaked the fuck out when I started reading the rest. Maybe its the lack of sleep coupled with the new pills(it's a legitimate prescription, I swear), but I was positive I had read these very words before.

But how, I asked myself? It says plainly that you had never published it here before. Of course, it never dawned on me that I could have read it somewhere else.

My mind raced. Naturally, I began to assume that I had inadvertently suffered some sort of time-traveling disaster. I considered the prospects that I had created this entire existence, some sort of bizarre videogame criticism solipsism.

These are the thoughts that go through my mind at 2 AM.

Of course, qrter to the rescue. I was able to breathe a deep sigh of relief after checking out the comments.

Anyway, I liked the post back when I read it on IT last year, and needless to say, I still do. Except for the fact that it terrified me the second time around.

--Alex

Yeah, qrter beat me to it. I think it's the latter...

2008-12-11T19:14:00.000+13:00
Yeah, qrter beat me to it. I think it's the latter, by the way: that it didn't occur to them. Ken Levine said a couple of months later how he underestimated the reaction players would have to the Ryan bit (players like me, apparently.) You also heard a lot about that game's final story coming in really late, and the fact that parts of it ultimately don't quite cohere is maybe not that unexpected.

In unrelated news, Alex P wrote a reply to Friends Like These, the HSD post from a week or so ago at his blog:

http://rebellionmedia.net/blog/2008/12/04/reaching-the-uncanny-valley/

So if you liked that post you don't have to wait a year for me to revisit it.

It was published at the time, just not here -
...

2008-12-11T11:40:00.000+13:00
It was published at the time, just not here -

http://www.idlethumbs.net/display.php?id=271

It's a nice piece. Irrational dropped the ball on BioShock, they didn't dare to go all the way (or hadn't even ever thought of going the whole way).

Seriously though, a very incisive analysis, and on...

2008-12-11T09:04:00.000+13:00
Seriously though, a very incisive analysis, and one that seems like it would've been right at home running during the post-release afterglow. Why did you can it?

"Crapture?!?" Blammo!

2008-12-11T08:46:00.000+13:00
"Crapture?!?" Blammo!

Comments on Hit Self-Destruct: Never Break The Chain

That was definitely a missed oppurtunity there, al...

What you are missing here is that Bioshock has per...

Hold on to your hats, gentlemen, as my first name ...

Shit happens.

Duncan,I want you to know, you just scared ...

Yeah, qrter beat me to it. I think it's the latter...

It was published at the time, just not here - ...

Seriously though, a very incisive analysis, and on...

"Crapture?!?" Blammo!

Duncan,
I want you to know, you just scared ...

It was published at the time, just not here -
...